The Howling
by aFlurry
Summary: It had started as a fairly normal day. Every day was a normal day for Alice Williams and that was just the way she liked it.
1. Chapter 1

**The Howling**

**Chapter 1**

**Hi this is my first story. I haven't written anything since high school so apologies if my grammar is atrocious. I also wasn't sure how to space the paragraphs out. English was never my forte. Tbh I was just feeling a bit bored/depressed when I decided to write this and thought it would be a good way of getting back into the swing of things. The story itself is not very original. There are probably 100's of laby fanfics featuring the off spring of Sarah but here's my take on it. I hope you can make sense of my drabbles. I'll try my best to correct any mistakes if u see any.**

**And yes the title is based off the within temptation song. It's one of my favs. Saw them last year, they were great. **

_In another moment down went Alice after it, never once considering how in the world she was to get out again.- __Alice in Wonderland_

It had started as a fairly normal day. Every day was a normal day for Alice Williams and that was just the way she liked it.

Alice liked the solidarity of reality. She had never been a dreamer or a fantasist. In her life there was no fairies nor goblins and no alternative dimensions where these creatures even existed.

Everything was just how she expected it to be.

There was especially no Bog of Eternal Stench.

But even so, Alice still reminisced in these stories her beloved mother, Sarah, used to tell her as a child every night.

Stories of a labyrinth, a beautiful young girl and a goblin king who fell in love with her and gave her 'certain' powers.

Alice missed her mother dearly. She also missed her mother's imagination and creativity that she herself never quite picked up.

It was fitting that her mother named her Alice.

Alice in Wonderland must of reminded her slightly of her beloved Labyrinth tale.

Today, however, all she could think about was her mother and the life she may of had if she was still here today.

Don't get her wrong, she loved her Uncle Toby unconditionally. He had became her guardian after her mother passed away and treated her just like his own.

It had been nearly 7 years since her mother passed. Now, 18, Alice had just graduated high school and was starting community college in the fall.

Alice was never particularly academic. Never smart enough for an Ivy League school like her Mother but none of that ever mattered to her.

She loved music, singing, composing and playing the piano. Even if she struggled to read sheet music due to her dyslexia but she was good at it and took pride in it. So it seemed a fitting choice to choose to study music production at college.

A milestone in her life that her mother would never get to see.

"Alice, are you okay?" her Uncle Toby's voice was soft and gentle behind her.

Alice sighed. She must of spaced out again, lost in thought as usual.

It was no wonder though. She could never really focus right on the anniversary of her mother's death.

"Yeah," Alice replied. She was currently sitting on the window sill of her mother's childhood room within her grandparents home.

She turned to her Uncle Toby and gave a weak smile. "I'm fine honestly."

Her uncle sat on the window sill beside her.

"You're sure you want to look after your two cousins tonight? I hate doing this to you, especially... today of all days. If you're not feeling up to it, I can call the baby sitter?"

"It's fine Uncle Toby, it gives me something to do," she said.

Toby and her grandparents were going to a family friends funeral; Mrs Callaghan if she remembered correctly. She was a nice old lady. She used to watch Alice when she was younger. She didn't remember much of her as she had stopped baby sitting her quite early on due to her health problems.

Normally she would have attended the funeral but not today for obvious reasons. She just wanted to stay inside. Plus Alice didn't mind watching the kids by herself. She had done it everyday since she was 16 while Toby was at work.

"I'm worried about you, is all," her uncle sighed. "It's unfair of me to leave you especially on a day like this."

"It's hard for both of us," Alice tried to reassure him.

Her Uncle Toby and her mother had been the closest of siblings. When her mother died he was devastated just as much as she was. She had never seen her uncle Toby in such a state and she wasn't sure she wanted to see him like that again.

"Trust me, the worst that could happen is the house burns down," Alice teased slightly, trying to lighten the mood.

Her uncles's mouth twitched up with a sly grin.

"Or both my children and niece are kidnapped by the goblin king," he laughed.

Alice grinned. Her mother had also often read the labyrinth story to Toby when he was younger too.

"I think we should probably stop reading that story to the kids though." Her uncle said thoughtfully.

Alice stirred for a moment. She suddenly felt a tad defensive over the raggedy old leather book. The book her mother lovingly gifted her many years ago. It was, after all, just a silly old book with no value but to Alice it was her passageway to understanding her mother's eccentric and intriguing life.

"The kids are driving me crazy. They keeping telling me that they'll wish for the goblin king to take me away every time they don't get what the want," her uncle's eyes twinkled.

Alice relaxed at the clarification.

"One day I fear he might actually appear," he chuckled.

Alice laughed too.

"Thank goodness it's just a fairytale then," she grinned.

Unbeknownst to Alice however, Toby had cringed slightly at his own choice of words.

Her uncle Toby left shortly after with both her grandparents. She was feeling quite bored and unsure what to do with herself. She always felt out of place in her grandparents home.

Her cousins, on the other hand, were in the living room bantering back and forth with each other. Her oldest cousin Sarah (named lovingly after her mother) was lounging on the sofa.

She was a pretty girl for her age, soon she would be turning 10. Sarah had long dark hair and striking green eyes. She was very similar in appearance to Alice's mother. As a child she used to feel envious of her cousin for this reason.

Alice didn't inherit much of her mother's good looks, however. She had mousy, tangled and more often than not, frizzy long blond hair. She was quite plain looking in every single way, or that's how Alice saw herself anyway.

Apart from her eyes.

Her eyes were two different colours, one blue and the other brown. The condition was called Heterochromia, which in itself sounds really cool and unique if it wasn't for the fact that she also had another condition, known as Anisocoria.

This condition made her pupils unequal in size, meaning, one pupil was bigger than the other. They were mismatched and weird looking, well once again, that's how Alice saw it.

Alice had learned to ignore the taunts from her fellow school mates throughout the years. She honestly didn't care about her appearance at all to be quite frank. If anything she embraced being a bit different. She had "the weird" as her friends liked to teasingly call it but she was happy and that was all that mattered.

Tim, Sarah's little brother of 2 years, was playing with his plastic dinosaurs in front of the fireplace. With nothing better to do Alice bent down to sit on the carpet with him.

"Yay! Alice you can be brown dinosaur," he giggled.

Alice grinned. "You know his real name is T-Rex right?"

From outside there was a faint howl of a wolf in the distance. Maybe it was just a dog. Alice couldn't tell.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Her Uncle Toby and her grandparents where due to come back home around 7. They had decided to have a meal with some friends after the funeral.

Things had been pretty quiet all night until Tim spilled his meal all over Sarah.

"Ew!" Sarah squealed. "You've ruined my favourite dress Tim! Mom bought this for me!"

"Sowwy," Tim giggled.

Sarah's pretty little face quickly turned into a bitter mask. "You think this is funny?!"

The little blond haired toddler bobbed his head up and down.

'Oh great,' Alice thought to herself. 'Things were going so well too.'

Tim and Sarah were both good kids and got along well together but they were far from perfect. Sibling quarrels had become a common occurrence recently.

"Sarah, calm down I'll put it in the wash before the stain dries, it'll be fine." Alice sighed. The beef gravy had left a significant stain on Sarah's pale blue dress. It was going to be hard getting rid of that stain.

"Ugh! I hate you sometimes Tim. You always destroy my things! I hate it!" Sarah thundered then childishly flung the dress off before stomping upstairs to the bedroom.

Tim giggled again and Alice gave him a stern glance.

Alice could sympathise with her. Tim and Sarah's mother was a pretty absent figure in their lives just like her father had been. The only time they ever saw Cheryl was maybe once a year if that. When she visited she would act like she was the best mother on the planet and shower them them with gifts. Which irked both Alice and Toby to no end.

The gifts weren't very impressive if Alice did say so herself. They often consisted of second hand clothing or toys from thrift stores. Not that there is anything wrong with that. Alice found that sometimes the best deals were found in thrift stores. You could find some really cool and unique stuff for cheap prices.

Cheryl, however, didn't put much effort into picking out anything of interest for the kids. It was usually junk that was of no use to anyone, yet, her gifts still meant the world to Sarah and Tim.

It made her cringe to think her Uncle Toby was working ridiculous amounts of hours a week to support them and still struggle to make ends meat. Meanwhile Cheryl lived the high life, buying herself nice clothes and the latest gadgets yet never lifting a finger financially towards her own flesh and blood but then again who was Alice to judge. She didn't even know who her dad was. It's not like he ever paid child support. She didn't even know what he looked like.

Alice tried to support Toby where she could. She currently had a job in a library which wasn't particularly fulfilling but helped towards costs.

Sarah hoped to get somewhere with her music but she was also prepared for 'Plan B' in the sad reality that it didn't work out.

Her uncle Toby had always been so supportive of Alice and her music, her grandmother however… not so much.

"You won't get anywhere or make any money doing this!" her grandmother would often say. "I just wish you had done better at school. Like your mother!"

Alice cringed at the thought. She would never be like her mother. No matter how hard she tried. She was brought painfully back from her thoughts when she heard a screech from upstairs.

A furious Sarah soon followed, now clad in a t-shirt and jeans.

"Tim's taking stuff from my bag aswell!" Furiously she presented before them her old, now muddy, Lancelot plush. It would seem that Tim took him into the garden to play with before ditching Lancelot unceremoniously back in Sarah's weekend bag. The toy used to belong to Alice's mother, then herself before she grew out of it. She had quite a few fond memories with Lancelot.

"Mine!" Tim squealed. "Mine, Mine, Mine!"

"Like I'm going to give you this. Get real!" Sarah snapped.

It was then Tim started mimicking her voice which only proved to rile Sarah more.

"Urgh. I wish… I just wish..." Sarah started.

"I wish the goblins would come take you away right now!"

To Alice's surprise it wasn't Sarah who uttered those words but in fact Tim. Sitting there proudly he flashed a toothy grin. Proud that he was able to recite the lines from the labyrinth tale Alice often read to them both before bed. His pronunciation wasn't the best considering he actually said gooblins instead of goblins but he still managed to get his point across.

Alice rolled her eyes and Sarah huffed a 'whatever'.

"You guys quite done here?" Alice sighed. Both said nothing in reply. "Okay then, I'm going to clear the dinner table, try to get along please while I'm doing that," she said scooping up some plates and taking them into the kitchen. "Sarah can you bring the remaining dishes through please," Alice called from the kitchen. There was no reply. Alice was really not in the mood for this tonight. "Sarah!" Still no reply.

She was greeted by a still giggling toddler enthusiastically clapping his hands when she walked back into the dining room.

"She's gone! She's gone! No more sister! Yay!" Tim gushed excitedly.

Alice definitely was not in the mood for fun and games. "Sarah can you come down please?" she called, assuming she must of ran upstairs.

The room suddenly felt eery. Like there was someone else unseen in the room. Though there was only herself and Tim present. She shrugged it off.

"She's gone! He's took her away!" Tim continued to giggle.

Alice sighed again and ventured upstairs to find Sarah. She was probably upset. She was quite an emotionally 10 year old. "Sarah you can come out I'll wash your dress and Lancelot for you. They'll be as good as new, no biggie!"

Nothing.

She had thought she was just hiding and would eventually get bored, jump out and say 'gotcha' but that didn't happen.

Annoyance soon turned to panic when Alice came to realise she was no where to be found in the house.

What was going on was impossible. The doors to the house had been locked. Only Alice had the key apart from her grandparents. Did she go out one of the windows?

Frantically searching the garden and checking every nook and cranny, panic soon turned to desperation.

"Why are you sad Alice?" Tim, by this point, had stopped giggling.

"Tim, where did Sarah go? Please this isn't a game. Where is she? Where did you last see her?"

"I told ya, he took her,' was all Tim would reply.

Frantically grabbing her phone she retreated to the hallway and dialled the first person she could think of. Uncle Toby.

"Hey kid. You okay, how's Tim?" Toby drawled down the receiver, she could tell he had been drinking. Her grandparents would be thrilled.

"Uncle Toby! She's gone, Sarah's gone, I can't find her!" Alice was sobbing uncontrollably down the phone at this point. Perhaps a bit undignified for an 18 year old girl but terror was coursing through her veins. She had one job. Look after her two cousins. They were practically her siblings. Could she seriously not even do that right?

Alice knew the odds for a missing child being found diminished after 24 hours. She scolded herself for not phoning the police first but she couldn't think straight.

What if Sarah had been abducted? What if she was going to be sold into some child trafficking ring? What if the abductor was still in the house?!

"What? I don't get it. Who's missing? What's happened?"

"Sarah! She gone!"

"Who's Sarah?"

She couldn't believe what she was hearing. She kinda felt groggy. Also nauseous.

"Sarah! Your daughter Sarah!" she was in disbelief. He couldn't be that drunk could he?

"Alice..." Toby stuttered. "I don't have… a daughter? You know what I don't think you're feeling too good are ya kid? Me and your grandparents are coming back right now".

"How could you forget your own daughter!"

"Alice just go lie down -" she cut him off.

"So you're trying to tell me you don't have a daughter?!" Alice felt faint. She legitimately thought she might pass out. At that point her grandmother took over the phone. Not surprising since she was a serial eavesdropper.

"Hey hunny. What's going on. Who is this Sarah you're talking about? Not your mother is it? You're not suffering from trauma are you? Look it's been a long day. Maybe the memories and anniversary of your mothers death is triggering you. Sorta like, uh, what do you call it again? PTSD y'know. Look we'll be home shortly-"

Alice hung up the phone. She could not stand to hear Karen's voice right now.

PTSD? Alice knew for a fact she did not have PTSD. She also knew for a fact that she most definitely had a cousin called Sarah. She knew for a fact that she had been in her very presence minutes before.

Running back to the dining room she picked Tim off the floor and sat him on a chair.

"You need to be honest with me Tim this is serious. Where is your sister?"

"I am always honest!" he protested but then paused for a moment. "I asked the gooblins to take her away so the kingy of the gooblins did."

"Tim!" At this point she was exasperated. "The labyrinth isn't real. It's only a story. Goblins and goblin kings do not exist -"

"But they do. Their kingy is very scary looking. He asked me if I wanted her back. I said nope," he looked sheepish. The novelty of wishing his sister away must have been wearing off.

As much as it sounded crazy, Alice was starting to believe it too.

**here's chapter 2 will probably write more over the weekend.**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

**Hi all. Thought I would mention that this fic takes place in the year 2013. So 27 years after the events of the movie.**

Jareth had never been very fond of the mortal world. If anything he found mortals quite loud, selfish and irritating. Not that he saw them very often. It was very rare nowadays that a child was wished away, anyway.

It didn't help that it wasn't very easy to wish a child away in the first place. Only a very specific set of words and the right conviction behind them would trigger the process.

Not that it bothered him that much. He found visiting the above ground extremely burdensome.

However, he was rather disappointed that no one believed in fairytales anymore. Especially those about the terrifying Goblin King.

The decline of children wished away meant he was having a shortage of servants around his castle.

Contrary to popular belief, children wished away, were not turned into goblins. Goblins were their own species. The were smelly and stupid but rather affectionate.

The children wished away were raised in his castle by other servants and would earn their keep once they were older. Sometimes they parted to do other things, perhaps further a field the Goblin Kingdom. However the majority enjoyed living in the castle. Jareth had a magnificant castle after all. Why wouldn't they enjoy living there? They were living better lives than they would have if they stayed in the above ground, that was for certain. It was one of the founding qualities of the labyrinth; to take unwanted children and make them wanted.

However he did find pleasure in informing his runners of his little goblin lie. The reaction on their faces was priceless. Well, that was when he used to have runners...

His labyrinth had not been run in years. He was rather bored.

The last person who had run was...

He scowled. He daren't think about her. For many years he had managed to block her image from his conscience. That was until a child was wished away. The first in a very long time.

He was initially shocked when he saw the little girl's appearance. The young girl before him looked a lot like her. Upon closer inspection he could see facial features of a different mother and father. The child must of been closely related to her but was definitely not her child. He was relieved in a way. He wasn't sure how he would have reacted if it turned out to be her offspring but from a different man. He was quite the jealous type.

The toddler who had wished the girl away reminded him of a child he once met many years ago.

Blond hair and blue eyes.

Toby.

They must be his children, he concluded. He thought it ironic that he was back in the same house he had been in many years ago. The house looked a little more modern but he could tell not much work had been done to it.

Usually when he took the children there was no emotion behind it. He was there to do his job. Nothing personal. But this time there was a part of him that was extremely satisfied in taking the girl away. After-all if it hadn't been for that irritating, drooling baby that drove his big sister to wish him away all those years ago, he would never of met... her.

Never have fallen in love with her.

Never have experienced the pain of her leaving him. Not once but twice.

Would never have to feel the frustration of not being able to summon a crystal to see her. All the result of some certain words she had uttered many years ago.

"You have no control over me."

He was bitter. He wanted to punish them both. Her.

His beloved... Sarah.

He scowled to himself again. He had thought her name. He knew he shouldn't have. He knew that once he began thinking about her, he wouldn't be able to stop.

Once a child was taken, all traces and memories of them in the mortal world would disappear. The only person who would remember was the person who wished them away to forever haunt them for the rest of their lives. However someone like Sarah, with the abilities she possessed, would still remember.

Deep in his heart he wanted Sarah to call upon him. To ask for the child back. He knew her better than anyone. She would do it in a heartbeat. He yearned to see her beautiful face once again. A significant amount of time would have passed in the above ground. She would be aged 42 now but he didn't care. She was his queen and she would be his forever. All she had to do was utter a simple wish even indirectly and he would have full control again. He would be able to travel to the above ground and visit her. Touch her. Take her back to his labyrinth. Although she probably wouldn't be very happy about that, not that he cared.

She had obviously been careful with her words over the years. Not one peep was heard from her.

It came as a surprise, however, when the days passed and he heard nothing. This wasn't like her.

She was brave and selfless, she would do anything for the ones she loved. So he continued to wait. Maybe she hadn't realised the child was gone yet. There had to be an explanation.

As time moved on he felt a nagging fear within himself. Where was she? He wasn't sure if he wanted to find out.


End file.
